Canada’s high court upholds anti-terror law

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TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Friday that the nation’s antiterrorism law is constitutional in a series of decisions that affirm how terrorism is defined in the criminal code.

The court in a 7-to-0 ruling rejected constitutional challenges brought by three men, including Momin Khawaja, the first person charged under the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Khawaja was convicted of collaborating with a group of Britons in a thwarted 2004 London plot. All three men are Canadians.

The rulings also upheld the extradition orders against Suresh Sriskandarajah and Piratheepan Nadarajah. Both men can now be sent to the United States to face charges of supporting the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lanka group trying to set up an independent ethnic Tamil state, which many have called a terrorist group. US prosecutors say the two men tried to buy $1 million in guns and rockets for the group.

The court rejected arguments that the antiterrorism law was too broad, criminalized harmless activity, and violated freedom of expression.